Don’t Kiss the Bride by Carian Cole is now live!
An irresistibly beautiful, chemistry-filled friends-to-lovers, age-gap romance, I love this book so much!
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Blurb
I guess you could say I was a damsel in distress, and he was my knight in shining armor.
But more accurately, I was a girl with a lot of bad luck, and he was a guy with a lot of muscles and tattoos.
Jude “Lucky” Lucketti wasn’t just a sexy, brooding construction worker. He was my own personal hero who seemed to be in all the right places at the right times. Like when my car broke down and I needed a ride home, and when I face planted on the sidewalk right in front of him and had to be taken to the emergency room.
Those weren’t exactly my best moments, but they were his.
We became friends, and it didn’t matter that he was sixteen years older than me. We had a lot in common—like our love of old rock music and vintage fast cars, and our aversion to relationships.
When he approached me with a crazy idea to help me out, I couldn’t say no.
The arrangement was supposed to be temporary. A marriage on paper and nothing else.
It should’ve been easy, but it wasn’t.
Because here I am, eighteen years-old, still in high school, and married to a man I was never supposed to fall in love with.
We had just one rule—no kissing the bride.
But we broke that rule, and it sealed our fate forever.
Review
“You’re the only one I ever want to stay.”
5 stars!
Carian Cole writes the best angsty, emotional, real and raw love stories, and this book is another example of why she’s an auto-buy author for me. An irresistibly beautiful, chemistry-filled friends-to-lovers, age-gap romance that had me glued to my kindle for almost 500 pages. I adored every moment!
Skylar is an 18-year-old girl living in unimaginable circumstances that have left her emotionally scarred yet mature beyond her years. Neglected by her parents since childhood, and with serious health issues, she has big dreams and is desperate to escape the hell of that is her life, but she’s without a lot of options and has no way to make her situation better.
Jude ‘Lucky’ Lucketti is a 34-year-old construction worker with his own set of issues. His difficult family situation has left its mark on him and though he looks like a tatted-up badass, he’s actually a gorgeous yet vulnerable guy with a heart of gold, who has built a wall around himself to prevent him from getting hurt again.
When Jude sees Skylar in trouble, he leaps to her rescue like the hero that he is. Time and again, he comes to her aid, and they become friends. And when he learns the depth of her problems, he comes up with a bold plan to help her – a marriage of convenience until she’s in a position to get on her own feet and start living the life of her dreams.
“This is crazy, right?”
“It is. Not gonna lie. But it’ll only be as crazy as we make it. If we’re cool about it, it’ll be fine. Just two people living together, married on paper so you can see a doctor and get out of hell house. No big deal.”
It seems crazy, but it works… for a little while at least. Until their insane chemistry makes things all kinds of complicated.
Jude has a no-getting-attached rule. I recognize all the signs because I also have that rule. However, it doesn’t seem to be working for us. Our rules are breaking themselves.
God, I love this relationship! It’s sweet, funny and so realistic as these two people who are so damaged and lonely find something truly beautiful together. At first it’s a friendship, and it’s easy, natural and everything to the two of them. They become such an important part of each other’s lives, and it’s gorgeous to see them together. They both quietly acknowledge that there is an underlying attraction there, but there’s something more building as well – a connection that is completely unexpected and absolutely undeniable.
When we’re together, she’s not eighteen, and I’m not thirty-four. We’re just two people who get along great, make each other laugh, take care of each other, and have insane chemistry.
It’s not about sex—I can get that anywhere. It’s a magnetic pull to get closer. Emotionally. Physically. Every time I’m with her I get this feeling of indescribable contentment that I can’t even wrap my head around.
And as their feelings for each other deepen, the sexual tension is sensational! It builds right alongside all of that emotion, and I could feel every sizzling moment of it. I wanted them to cross that line so badly, and when it finally comes, I was a mess of excited, blissed-out romance reader!
“If I kiss you, I’m not going to stop.”
She stares up at me. Her eyes are full of everything that draws me to her. Mischief. Fire. Desire. Honesty.
“Then don’t stop,” she says.
I mean, just read this for an example of an epically passionate, chemistry-filled moment…
Oh. My. Godddddd!!! These are the moments that romance readers live for, and this book absolutely delivers!
But of course, their path is not an easy one. Their situation is difficult, and the age gap – and people’s perception of it – proves to be a lot for them to overcome. They also both have family drama and personal issues that they are wrestling with, and it’s a lot for them to deal with. It’s angsty (good angst – believable and that builds the story) and there is a lot of back and forth as they figure it all, but through it all, I was completely captivated, understanding all that they were going through, feeling their pain and wanting so badly for them to find their happy – even if it looks impossible.
Life just had to fuck with me by throwing the perfect girl in my life and then twisting the knife by making her only eighteen years old.
I have so much love for these characters. Skylar is brave, honest and quirky, and the strength she shows in dealing with her situation and working to create a better life for herself is just amazing. And just like every other Carian Cole hero before him, Jude completely stole my heart! He’s such a good guy! He’s been through hard times, but he’s pulled himself through and he’s the sweetest man with just the right amount of dark humour and raw, dirty sexuality, and I couldn’t get enough of him. They are absolutely magic together – I love the way they joke around, the way they care for each other, and their honesty about all they are feeling. It’s so clear that they belong together, and they truly want nothing but the best for each other, and watching them find that in each other was a beautiful journey.
She looks magical and beautiful and she’s looking at me like she’s making a thousand wishes and every single one of them includes me.
Her hope completely shatters me.
I’m so tired of putting walls up.
I freaking love this book. Fans of Cole’s work will recognise a key scene with another of her amazing heroes, Asher Valentine, and I love how his cameo played into the story, but otherwise this book stands strongly on its own, and I know it’s going to be one that stays with me for a long time.
5 stars!
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Meet Carian Cole
Carian Cole has a passion for the bad boys, those covered in tattoos, sexy smirks, ripped jeans, fast cars, motorcycles and of course, the sweet girls who try to tame them and win their hearts.
Born and raised a Jersey girl, Carian now resides in beautiful New Hampshire with her husband and their multitude of furry pets. She spends most of her time writing, reading, and vacuuming.
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